Kiev resumes security push; accord may be unraveling

Wednesday

Apr 23, 2014 at 12:01 AMApr 23, 2014 at 9:38 AM

KIEV, Ukraine - Ukraine's acting president ordered security forces to resume operations in the country's east yesterday after the bodies of two people allegedly abducted by pro-Russia insurgents were found and a military aircraft reportedly was hit by gunfire. The developments - just hours after Vice President Joe Biden left the Ukrainian capital - raised fears that last week's international agreement on easing Ukraine's crisis was unraveling.

KIEV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s acting president ordered security forces to resume operations in the country’s east yesterday after the bodies of two people allegedly abducted by pro-Russia insurgents were found and a military aircraft reportedly was hit by gunfire.

The developments — just hours after Vice President Joe Biden left the Ukrainian capital — raised fears that last week’s international agreement on easing Ukraine’s crisis was unraveling.

The accord calls for all sides to refrain from violence and for demonstrators to vacate public buildings. It does not specifically prohibit security operations, but Ukraine suspended its so-called anti-terrorist operation after it was reached.

Pro-Russia insurgents who have seized police stations and other public buildings in eastern Ukraine are defying the call to vacate, saying they were not party to the agreement by Ukraine, Russia, the United States and the European Union.

In a statement, acting President Oleksandr Turchynov said the two bodies found yesterday in the eastern city of Slovyansk bore signs of torture. One of the victims was a member of the city council.

Terrorists “are beginning to torture and kill Ukrainian patriots. They are impudently rejecting the calls of not only our country but of all the world’s society when they demonstratively mock the decisions taken in Geneva,” Turchynov said.

“These crimes are being done with the full support and connivance of Russia,” he added.

The acting government, which took over after President Viktor Yanukovych fled to Russia in February, says Russia is behind the unrest in eastern Ukraine, creating a pretext to invade. Last month, Russia annexed Crimea weeks after seizing control of the peninsula.

The Defense Ministry said gunfire hit an observation plane over Slovyansk, but the aircraft landed safely without injuries.

Standing alongside Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Biden called on Moscow to encourage pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine to vacate government buildings and checkpoints, accept amnesty and “address their grievances politically.”

Biden said Russia needs to act “without delay,” adding, “We will not allow this to become an open-ended process.”

Yatsenyuk was harsher in his characterization of Russia.

“Russia should stick to its international commitments and obligations,” he said. “They should not behave as gangsters in the modern century.”

In another development yesterday, the Pentagon said it was sending 600 soldiers to eastern Europe for military exercises in response to “aggression” by Russia in Ukraine, the first U.S. ground forces dispatched to the region in the 2-month-old crisis.

The 173rd Infantry Brigade, a U.S. Army airborne unit based in Vicenza, Italy, will deploy 150-soldier companies to Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia over the next month and will rotate more U.S. forces to those and possibly other countries at least through the end of the year, said Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary.

The four countries, all of which were under Moscow’s control during the Cold War and later joined NATO, have asked the United States and other alliance members to send forces to their territory in response to Russia’s military buildup along the Ukrainian border.

The first U.S. troops will start infantry-training exercises today in Poland. The others are expected to arrive by Monday for similar land-based exercises in the Baltic countries, Kirby said.

Meanwhile, hundreds of mourners gathered for the Orthodox funeral services of three pro-Russian militiamen killed in a shootout on Easter near Slovyansk, now under the control of pro-Russian insurgents.

Many used the services to vent their anger at the interim government in Kiev, which they blamed for the deaths. Pro-Russian forces say the three men were killed by members of the Ukrainian ultranationalist group Right Sector, which helped to overthrow the government in February.

Biden also announced yesterday that the United States will provide an additional $50 million to help Ukraine’s beleaguered government with political and economic reforms.

The money includes $11 million to help conduct the May 25 presidential election. The White House also announced $8 million in nonlethal military assistance for the Ukrainian armed forces, including bomb-disposal equipment and communications gear.

Information from the Los Angeles Times was included in this story.

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